Pierce Rice

(1916 - 23 May 2003, USA)

Pierce Rice was a comic book artist during the Golden Age of American comics and in later years a successul classical artist and teacher. Coming from Brooklyn, New York, Rice attended the Pratt Institute and began working in comic books in 1939, initially through the Iger shop, but shortly afterwards through his own studio with Arturo and Louis Cazeneuve.

He worked for Fox Comics, Fawcett and Centaur, but mainly for Harvey, dong features like 'Zebra', 'Green Hornet', 'Captain Freedom' and 'Black Cat'. Rice was drafted in the US Army in 1943, where he served in World War II's European theater and drew for the Seventh Army Newspaper in Heidelberg. Back in civil life, Rice began work at DC, where he contributed art to such features as 'Spectre', 'Crimson Avenger', 'Manhunter', 'Slam Bradley' and 'Seven Soldiers of Victory'. Other post-War clients were Hillman, Harvey, Ace, Standard, Gleason, Ziff-Davis, ACG, Eastern and Topps.

By the mid-1950s, Rice left the comic book industry and settled in Fairfax Country, Virginia, where pursued magazine cover illustration, portraiture and various design projects. He also became a renown art critic and teacher at the University of Pennsylvania.